Amalendu Kundu from Gangtok
The Indian army personnel, present in the Dokala region in Sikkim, have rushed to help the Bhutanese soldiers. However, the PLA had pushed back the Bhutanese and came face to face with the Indian army personnel. The Indian soldiers too made it clear to the Chinese soldiers that they had no business changing the existing unilateral status quo in tri-junction.
China has said Indian was using Bhutan to ‘cover up’ the illegal entry by Indian troops into Chinese territory and has demanded their immediate withdrawal.
Bhutan too has a written agreement China struck in 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquility on the border pending final settlement on the boundary question and maintain status quo as before March 1959.
The last Thursday Bhutanese foreign ministry issued a press release which stated Bhutan has conveyed to diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory was in direct violation of the boundary between the two countries. ‘Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before June 16,’ the statement said.
The ongoing face-off between the Indian and the Chinese troops over the road construction on the border of 269 sq km plateau in Bhutan raised question.
The question for China is why is it in such a hurry to construct roads in so-called disputed territory, especially, since the territory’s status has to be determined through peaceful boundary negotiation with Bhutan – that have been since 1984 ( as of now, there have been 24 rounds of China – Bhutan border negotiation that last one being held in Beijing in August 2016).
In 1996, china offered Bhutan a resolution package deal proposing an exchange of Pasamlung and Jakarlung valley totaling and area of 495 sq km in central Bhutan with the pasture land of Doklam, Simchulung, Dramana and Shikhatoe spread on 269 sq km in north-western Bhutan. But Bhutan rejected it. In 1998 Bhutan and China signed peace agreement promising to maintain peace and tranquility on the Bhutan-China border areas.
But China has violated this peace agreement by trying to construct roads in Doklam. Ambassador of Bhutan to India Vetsop Namgyal has said, ‘Doklam is disputed territory and Bhutan has written agreement with China that pending final resolution of the boundary issue, peace should be maintained in the area’. China cannot describes its action as legitimate, which it does by describing the area as part of the Chinese territory.
It is exactly similar to India’s apprehension that when China unilaterally changes the status quo near Chumbi valley, the Trijunction of Sikkim, Bhutan & Tibet. Chinese, intrusion into the territory have ominous signal to India from the strategic point of view.
Chumbi valley is only 500 km from Siliguri corridor- ‘the Chicken neck’ which connects India to North-east India and Nepal to Bhutan. This explains the rationale behind the aforesaid package deal that China has offered to Bhutan – central areas of Bhutan in exchange of the north-western areas.
The Chumbi valley has enormous strategic importance for India in the sense that dominance here by China will adversely affect the stability in the Siliguri corridor vital not only for linkage between Indian mainland and the north-eastern Indian states but also to ensure security for Kolkata and the North Bihar plains.
This is all the more important after China opened a railway network in August in 2014 connecting Lhasa with Shigatse, a small town near the Indian border in Sikkim. China now wants to extend this line upto Yadong situated at the mouth of the Chumbi valley, and once this done, potential threats to the Siliguri corridor from China will take menacing proportions.
